Cops allegedly thrash student over ‘mysterious’ bag

A student claimed that he was beaten up by the police and accused of possessing a 'mysterious bag' which contained government property

PETALING JAYA: A 17-year-old boy yesterday accused the police of beating him up over the the alleged possession of a mysterious bag which was said to have contained a police handgun.

C Thiagaraj, a form five student from Setapak, lodged a report yesterday afternoon at the Sentul police station, urging an investigation against at least five policemen who he alleged had assaulted him.

Thiagaraj said police could have also suspected that he was involved in a fight between 10 to15 other young boys.

In his report, he said that his ordeal first began around midnight on Monday when he was outside an internet cafe. “I heard some disturbances, and [saw] a few kids fighting,” said Thiagaraj.

Suddenly, reported Thiagaraj, one of the boys whom he recognised ran towards him and had handed him a bag, asking him to dispose of it.

Shocked, Thiagaraj simply threw the bag at a nearby dustbin. About 10 minutes later, five “plainclothes policemen” came to Thiagaraj and his friends.

“They (police) asked: Who is ‘Cike Boy’? And I told them I am called Cike Boy… the police immediately starting hitting me without telling me why I am being beaten.”

Thiagaraj alleged that the policemen continued beating him, even after he told them the location of the bag that he threw away.

“They beat me terribly eventhough I begged and told them I am a school boy and that I was innocent… it was witnessed by many passersby there,” he said.

Subsequently, Thiagaraj was brought to the Setapak police station but due to his injuries, he was sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment.

Doctors later ascertained that he suffered from bruises to the head – requiring two stitches, fractures to bones of the middle finger and marks on his forehead from being beaten by a pistol.

“The wounds still hurt now,” said Thiagaraj, who identified five of his attackers as Fazrin Ishtiaq, Suherman, Khaironizan, Salehuddin and “another whose face I can recognise”.

“A few police officers also threatened me not to lodge a report as this would complicate my case and my safety.

“I want action against those who attacked, beat and hit me without good reason,” said Thiagaraj, who added that he was lodging a police report for fear of his safety.

Why beat him up?

Meanwhile, Subang PKR branch secretary G Manivanan, who accompanied the youngster to lodge the report, said that Thiagaraj had told him that a policeman had later told him that the bag contained RM20,000 worth of government property, including a pistol.

“How could a police bag that contained a pistol be left just like that? Is this not police negligence? The boy was beaten up badly because of that bag.”

“Yesterday (Tuesday), they brought him to court to charge him under Section 160 of Penal Code for fighting, but what about the policemen?

“Are they not wrong to beat someone up? Even if Thiagaraj had possession of the bag, which he claimed he did not know about, you should investigate, not beat him up in public.”

Manivanan urged the police to investigate fairly and report back to the boy’s family the results of their probe.

When contacted, Sentul district police chief ACP Zakaria Pagan confirmed that a report was lodged, but declined to elaborate on the details.

He said that a thorough investigation will be carried out.